Ash Creek #307

[mrbeall]

I mentioned this in my other post, but maybe you guys have some more information.

Over my spring break, which starts this upcoming Friday, I was hoping to run off into the Palomino mountains for a short two day trek. A trail that particularly interests me is the Ash Creek Trail #307, around Safford, that hikes up Mount Graham. In my initial planning, I had figured everything south of Payson was going to be warm enough to backpack, but after calling the Safford Ranger district I've found that's not necessarily the case . They said there's a lot of snow up there, but nobody has been able to give me a clear concept of just how much that is. I've been on the phone with them a couple of times, and the lady I just talked to was more helpful than anyone before... but other than saying the snow level starts at about 65-6700 feet, things are still pretty vague.

Some snow I'm okay with, as I've done a few day hikes here in Colorado through (relatively shallow) snow... and I have a lot of experience snow camping. But I figured I'd ask you guys to see if anyone has a better idea of what I'm looking at. I don't want these to be the kind of conditions I need snow shoes for, and one of my biggest concerns is being able to tell where the trail is if it happens to be buried below a foot or two of snow. For anyone who's hiked it, do you think the tree trail will be obvious enough to stay on the path? And if anybody does have a more clear idea of what kind of weather I'm looking at, I'd be grateful to hear it.

Because the Swift Highway is partially closed, I would start from the bottom around Pima. One thing I'm considering is just going as planned and hiking as far as we can reasonably hike, camping for the night and then heading back down. Just looking at a rough online topo map, it appears Oak Flat is about 6400 ft... which according to the Ranger is below the *current* snow line (which is after a storm). Ash Creek Falls seem to be around 8000. My question, is if things are too bad to reach the top, would the hike be worth it just to go to the falls, or in the worse case scenario, Oak Flat? Remember, I'm going from the bottom up. I had hoped to experience the whole "sky island" thing... but I figure this is below that. Is the bottom half of that hike rewarding enough, if I have to stop partway? I'm sure it will be a good experience no matter how far I get... but Pima/Safford is a long drive from Phoenix. If I'm getting the same landscape as the Superstitions, I would very much prefer to just hike the superstitions. What do you think?

My last question, is just whether you guys think this is a bad idea to go this early in spring? Am I out of my mind here? Anybody have any personal experience with this kind of thing?

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks!

[Crocodile Ryan]

I havent hiked the trail in the direction you are thinking of, but I have hiked well down past the falls and Oak Flat, and that is a very very steep and overgrown section, it isnt the easiest thing to do in good conditions

The weather can really hit you up there too, the last time there we were hit with marble sized hail for a good hour and a half, not very much fun

There are also sections of the trail that are on metal grating that is anchored into the rock above the creek and pretty close to some serious drop offs, and other sections where the grating is holding loose rocks on the side of a rock slab creating the trail, if you PM me I can send you some pics of what I am talking about, I would be a bit worried with snow/ice conditions and slipping in the wrong spot

I think your best bet would be to skip Mt Graham until a much warmer time and enjoy the great weather, and water in the Supes

[JoelHazelton]

I think the dicey section Crocodile Ryan is talking about, if we're on the same page, is the slick-rock area which is upstream from the falls. It is dicey, too, but not in the stretch of trail you're talking about doing. I hiked it with a friend during a heavy monsoon this past August and it was pretty rough. So, I second that the weather can get pretty radical up there. I can't say much about the lower section of the trail, though. However, I would recommend you wait until it's too hot for the desert and can enjoy the entire length of Ash Creek, because it sure is beautiful.

[Crocodile Ryan]

Now Im having trouble remembering......

I thought that section, and we are on the same page, was in-between the falls and oak flat,

at any rate though, when I climbed the lower section (last august) it was heavily overgrown and extremely steep and slippery, I dont know if you could follow the trail, theres not much of a 'tree trail' down there

[mrbeall]

Here's a map of trail that I found online:

It looks like Slick Rock is beyond the falls, at least in the direction I'll head up... but falling off a cliff still isn't too appealing to me.
If the lower half is too hard to navigate in the summer, then I guess its not a very good idea. The trail doesn't follow along the creek? And you bring up a good point about the steepness. When I read through the triplog it didn't bother me, both me and my friend going are young and in pretty good shape, but with ice/snow on the ground thats a whole nother story. I don't feel like tumbling down a mountain side in the snow. If the conditions WERE good enough, at least up to Oak Flat/Ash Creek Falls, would you still recommend the trail? I would hate to drive that three hours or so and hike it, only to find that I could have got the exact same thing closer to home. If its going to be the same desert landscape as in the superstitions, well I'll take the superstitions. The trail info says that there are a lot of maple trees and what not... but does this extend to the area I would be hiking around in? Then again, that brings up another point... if its still too cold for deciduous trees, is everything below Oak Flat going to be a skeleton forest?

AZpride, I'm actually living in Boulder, Co... and it looks like I will be this summer too. I've already escaped the crazy az heat... permanently. :P

I guess it looks like I'll be heading to the superstitions?

[PrestonSands]

The Pinaleno Mountains are entirely different than the Supes. It's a completely different desert (Chihuahua vs. Sonoran), with about 10,000 % less people . There is much more elevation change than any trail in the Superstitions (6000 feet -like hiking from the North Rim to the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon). I would describe Ash Creek as a "southern Arizona meets the White Mountains" experience. You start in the mesquites and barrel cacti, and end up in a spruce/aspen forest. I've included a photo in this post, taken from the jeep trail section/bottom end of the Ash Creek Trail, looking up Ash Creek canyon. It was early July, ungodly hot, and the mesquites (predominant vegetation in that area) were fully leafed out.

There is likely at least several feet of snow on the ground above Ash Creek Falls right now. You will most likely need snowshoes up on top. The Slick Rock section near the falls would probably be downright dangerous right now (ice!). The way things are going this winter (it snowed up there all last night and most of today), the road to the upper trailhead probably won't open until May. May and October would be good months to hike the entire trail, though.

This trail is a sky island experience at it's best!

[chumley]

I haven't paid attention to how storms have hit Mt. Graham this winter, but areas above 7000 feet along the Mogollon Rim are still hanging in there with numerous reporting sites in the 2-3 feet range. That's only fun if you're snowshoeing.

Even if Mt. Graham didn't get some of the big dumps that hit other parts of the state this winter, once you get to 8500+ feet, there is almost certainly over 2 feet on the ground still. (There are spots in the White Mtns at 9000 ft with over 5 feet of snow still on the ground.)

Seems like the lower elevations are better suited to hiking for now.